Justin Lee

New Appraisal System Impacts Consumer

The HVCC or Home Valuation Code of Conduct was recently implemented by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as a new system of appraisals in the U.S. Under the rules, many of the appraisals are handled by management companies (some of which are also owned by the l... Read >

Breaking Ground on the National Mall

As part of an Earth Day celebration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture have begun creation of a "People's Garden" on the National Mall. A 6-acre area of grass, trees and flowers has been converted into an organic garden to promote sustainability, conserv... Read >

Leonardtown, Maryland Balances Growth With Tradition

Leonardtown is a charming town in Maryland with a population of about 2,500. This is a close knit, pedestrian-friendly community where everyone has a familiar face and kids can spend their weekends fishing or playing sports. With 300 years under its... Read >

Building Lingo 101

Even if you don't know how to fix a leaky pipe or build a house, it helps to understand the lingo. You may find yourself dealing with a contractor one day, and you'll sound a lot more knowledgeable if you know some of the common building terms and what th... Read >

Communication is Key With Real Estate Clients

It should be something so obvious as to not be worth the mentioning, but communication with your clients is key to building their trust in you and their desire to buy or sell a home through you. You don't need to be available 24/7 to provide your clie... Read >

Neutralize your home with paint

If you are trying to sell your home and have an unconventional color scheme, it might be worth the time, money and effort to repaint with more neutral shades. Buyers sometimes don't see the "forest for the trees" and will be distracted by your color ch... Read >

The Wisdom of Hindsight in the Real Estate Market

"Consider the following observations about the Metropolitan Washington, D.C. real estate market: A home in Silver Spring, Maryland comes on the market and sells in one day. That's no big deal. But the real estate agent received forty-one offers. I'l... Read >

Common Sense Home Improvements

In more prosperous markets, the mention of home improvement ideas meant double-sink vanities, stainless steel appliances, granite counter tops and spa baths. Today, upgrades have come down to earth with the focus on money saving, practical improvements me... Read >

Don't Be Offended By Lowball Offers

We recently put our home up for sale. We cleaned from top to bottom, primped, staged until it looked amazing. We felt that in a slower market, we needed to do everything possible to stand out above the competition. Our agent called to set up our first sh... Read >

Finish Your Cedar Trim To Last!

Nothing beats the warmth, character and durability of cedar trim on the outside of a home. However, many shy away from using it because it has a reputation of being a high maintenance product. Like anything, it's important to understand the nature of the ... Read >

What? No Cars?

Bicyclecity.com promotes an unusual community - unusual by the standards of people born in our society in the last 100 years, at least. No cars. No trucks. Nothing with an internal combustion engine will be permitted past this proposed city limits. The pr... Read >

Be Your Own Culinary Coordinator

My friend had a dream kitchen. It was the size of a small soccer field and contained two dishwashers, a mini fridge for juice and snacks for the kids, custom cabinets, built in espresso maker, large commercial style refrigerator, and so on. It was organiz... Read >

Signs of an Energy De-ficient House

When buying a home, what safety net do you have to warn against the purchase of an energy guzzling, money pit? Hopefully, a home inspection will raise any red flags, but you should know what to look for. This checklist that will help alert you to a ho... Read >

Buying A Character Home

Buying a character home is like buying an antique car, it will be more beautiful than all the others on the block, but you will have to spend every Sunday polishing it! To the converted, however, the charm of the older character home makes all that pol... Read >

New Market Trends to Floor You

After all these years of having hardwood floors that are mid brown and easy to clean, the word is that new, pale floors will be sweeping the market. These lighter floors have been popular in Europe and are just being introduced over here in North Ameri... Read >